LIKE A Shakespeare play . . . without the multiple death sequences or soliloquies.

A terrific start, more than the occasional defender made to wear an asses’ head and then an ending of meteoric proportions that has kept alive Villa’s dream of breaking up the big guns.

It was a sort of Comedy of Errors in Everton’s defence, As You Like it with Villa’s finishing and All’s Well that Ends Well.

Just when it looked as if boyhood Villa fan Joleon Lescott’s dagger had pierced hearts with an acrobatic injury-time volley – as good as anything his hero Dalian Atkinson might have produced – along came Ashley Young.

He was bought for £9million and must now surely be worth around three times that amount as Martin O’Neill’s ‘A’ team put the misery of the midweek UEFA defeat to Zilina behind them.

Martin Laursen and Steve Sidwell hurled their shirts into a chaotic away end amid scenes that were something akin to Villa having won the Premier League, let alone merely having recorded their fifth away win.

O’Neill simply loves Goodison Park.

He has never lost away to Everton as a Premier League manager and has lost only one of 13 top-flight visits to Merseyside as boss of either Leicester or Villa.

That was Villa’s 3-1 reverse at Anfield in October 2006.

Villa seem to love Everton almost as much having won more games (16) and gained more points (58) against them than against any other club in the Premier League.

From the first minute that sequence looked like continuing.

Just 31 seconds were on the clock when Steve Sidwell latched on to

James Milner’s knock-down after a foraging run from Luke Young and smashed a 20-yarder beyond Tim Howard.

It was some way to celebrate the birth of his second child earlier in the week.

It may have been 21 seconds behind Ledley King’s goal for Spurs against Bradford eight years ago but it was still memorable and mighty stuff.

Villa toyed for 25 minutes with the hosts but took their feet off the gas around the time that Brad Friedel kept Villa’s noses in front with a double save.

Tim Cahill got goal-side of Carlos Cuellar and fired too close to the American to really hope to level, then Friedel kept out Marouane Fellaini’s header from the resultant corner.

Everton’s fans were screaming for a penalty when Milner collided with Victor Anichebe in the penalty area, but the Villa midfielder got the benefit of the doubt.

Everton’s dominance led to an almost inevitable equaliser when Mikel Arteta’s free-kick was flicked on by Leon Osman allowing Lescott the simplest of tap-ins for his first.

The goal broke a fine defensive sequence for Villa, who had not conceded in over 300 minutes of Premier League football since Tuncay Sanli scored for Middlesbrough at Villa Park.

O’Neill’s side were being outplayed and could thank their lucky stars that Cuellar was in the right place at the right time to head off the goal-line from Fellaini, who had risen highest to Steven Pienaar’s cross.

Right at the start of the second half Friedel produced a blinding save to tip Fellaini’s point-blank header on to the crossbar with the Everton player three yards out and totally unmarked.

But a schoolboy error from Phil Jagielka handed Villa the initiative once again.

The centre-back’s suicidal back-pass, under no pressure, was telegraphed by Ashley Young who raced to the edge of the box and then chipped the ball over Tim Howard with ease. Young should have capitalised on some woeful refereeing from Martin Atkinson, who failed to spot Gareth Barry yanking back Arteta on the half-way line, but dallied and allowed Everton to clear through Joseph Yobo.

Yobo sent a header inches wide then Tim Cahill’s flick-on was scissor-kicked into the net by Lescott in the third minute of stoppage time, which seemingly stole a share of the points.

But seconds after he had celebrated infront of the Villa fans he was left red-faced when Gabby Agbonlahor – making his 100th Premier League appearance – played Ashley Young straight through the middle and he finished with panache to allow Villa to nose ahead 71-70 in the all-time league record between the sides.

For the second year running we had witness an incredible end to a titanic tussle that will serve once again to fire Villa’s quest to pip Arsenal, who they meet on Boxing Day at Villa Park.